A Not So Merry Christmas
by penguino3782
Summary: After a horrific confrontation with Murdoc leaves Mac fighting for his life, the team is left to pick up the pieces. A redo of episode 2.11 where Mac is the one who meets up with Murdoc at Cage's apartment.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own MacGyver.**

 **A/N: I decided to dive into the realm of MacGyver fan fiction. This is my first time writing for this fandom so please be gentle. This is a re-do of 2.11, so be warned this story will contain spoilers. Be warned there is violence in this chapter.**

 **A Not So Merry Christmas-Chapter 1**

"Deck the halls with bows of holly. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. 'Tis the season to be jolly," Mac hums softly as he quietly enters Cage's place with his large duffle bag of Christmas necessities over his shoulder. Fa-la-la-la-la-" This is going to be great. Cage is going to love her place once he's through. Mayne it will make being far from home a little easier on Cage. Mac's humming instantly stops when he sees someone standing by the small Christmas tree in the darkened living room.

"Cage? I didn't think you would be here," Mac laughs nervously. There goes his surprise. So much for surprising the newest member of the team by turning Cage's place into a spectacular Christmas Wonderland.

"Cage?" Mac asks again as he walks further into the darkened room. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fantastic," the figure says as he turns around to face the young blonde.

All holiday cheer that was cursing through Mac's veins mere seconds ago vanishes instantly when he sees Murdoc smiling menacingly mere feet from him.

"Murdoc," Mac utters as he drops his duffle back onto the floor.

"That's me!" Murdoc sing songs gleefully.

"What are you doing here?"

Murdoc makes a tisking noise. "I can same the same thing about you. Doing a little breaking and entering on Christmas Eve?"

Murdoc's eyes then drift to the duffle bag on the floor that Mac just dropped. "Or let me guess. You're one of Santa's little helpers. Well, like you I came here to give Cage a little Christmas present."

"And what present would that be?" Mac asks.

"This," Murdoc says as he pulls a gun from his jacket pocket.

A fiery pain slams into Mac gut before his genius mind can formulate a plan. The pain is all encompassing. He's trying not to focus all his attention on the pain and remind his body to keep breathing. He's so busy on those simple tasks that he doesn't notice Murfoc's bending over him until he can feel the murderer's hot breath tickling his cheek.

"Merry Christmas, MacGyver."

The agony in his gut grows as pain tears through Mac's abdomen when he feels pressure pushing down on the epicenter of his agony. Mac feels a gloved hand on his as it places his right hand over the makeshift bandage.

"Here you go." He feels a not so gentle slap on his cheek. "We don't want you to bleed out before your team gets here."

Mac's mind is too muddled to make sense of anything. Murdoc just shot him and now he's tending to his wounds? What's Murdoc's plan? Where's Jack? He needs Jack. His body is too overwhelmed with confusion and anguish that his body welcomes the blessed unconsciousness when it beckons him.

 **XXXXX**

Mac's eyes slowly open. There's a low buzzing noise. He looks up at the ceiling. Wait. This isn't the ceiling at his and Bozer's place. Where is he? What's going on? Where's Jack? His panicked eyes take in the unfamiliar scene before trying to make sense of why he's on someone's floor. It doesn't take long for his mind to put the pieces together. He's in Cage's place. He was going to deck it all out to make her feel like she's home. But-. A wave of agony rolls through his gut. He looks down at the bloodied, wet mess of his stomach. Murdoc! Murdoc shot him! "Need Jack." Mac says as another spike of agony spreads through his body just before his body once again gives into unconsciousness.

 **XXXXX**

 **"** No answer?" Riley asks.

Jack shakes his head. "Maybe Cage caught him in her apartment and went all CIA-ey on him." Jack says with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

Riley chuckles. "He probably has her singing Christmas carols and hanging yards of garland by now."

"You're probably right. Mac is like Santa's happiest little elf."

"He's fine," Riley says as she tries to reassure Jack. This is the second time he's tried calling Mac in the last fifteen minutes and hasn't gotten an answer.

"Ri, I know he's fine. I'm just calling him to tell him to get his genius ass back here to save me from hearing Bozer's Christmas pastrami story...again"

Riley rolls her eyes. She laughs at Jack's joke. He's joking around about Mac being MIA. But, there's something in the man's eyes that tells her he's worried. He's not fooling anyone. She quickly excuses herself from the scene of Christmas songs playing and Bozer's enthusiastic voice retelling the story of Christmas pastrami, to fetch her laptop from her car just in case. She won't need it though. Nothing could go wrong. It's Christmas Eve.

 **XXXXX**

It's the cold that wakes Mac next. A deep chill throughout his whole body. His teeth are chattering. His body is trying desperately to warm up. His genius mind tells him that the slight movement should be causing him intense pain. But it's not. This is not good. He's not feeling pain. He's going into shock. His body is shutting down. He needs his team. He needs Jack. His right hand is still resting on his wound, but his left hand is free. He clumsily feels around and after several failed attempts he has finally gotten his phone out of his pocket. But now, he has used all of his energy reserves and he needs to rest. He tries to fight the fatigue. He needs to call Jack. But he can't do it. It'll be okay. He just needs to rest his eyes for a second.

 **XXXXX**

"Merry Christmas!" Cage calls out merrily as she enters Mac and Bozer's place.

"Mac's not with you?" Jack asks.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Jack." Cage says with a roll of her eyes.

Jack walks towards her. "Have you seen him?"

"Mac?" Cage asks, confused.

"Yes, Mac!" Jack yells throwing his hands in the air.

Cage looks at Riley.

"Don't mind him. He's been trying to call Mac and he hasn't picked up."

"Mac is a big boy. He can take care of himself. Besides, why did you think he was with me?" Cage replies.

"Because he was supposed to be decking your place out in all Christmas grandeur," Bozer says as he brings in a tray of appetizers. "He left to do that over an hour ago."

"I didn't go back to my place. Traffic was awful, so I just came right here." Cage explains.

"I don't like this," Jack says as he calls Mac again. "Something's not right."

"As much as it kills me to say this, but Jack is right." Matty says as she bustles in from the patio. "I just got a call from the office. A 911 call just went in requesting an ambulance to be dispatched to Cage's place."

"Do we know who was hurt?" Riley asks.

Jack is already heading for the door.

Matty shakes her head. "It was an anonymous cal. No names, no other information except that an ambulance was needed." Matty replies.

"Mac would have given more information than that," Bozer says. As he rushes to the kitchen to turn off the oven. Christmas pastrami is going to have to wait.

"Exactly," Jack says as he yells into the phone. "Come on, brother. Pick up. Pick up."

The five of them rush out the house as "Run, Run Rudolf" continues to play undisturbed in the now empty house.

 **XXXXX**

It's the sound of his phone that welcomes Mac to the land of the living this time. His motions are clumsy. It takes him a couple of agonizing tries but finally he answers his phone. He hears Jack's booming voice. "Mac! Mac!" He can hear Jack yelling. He thinks Jack is asking questions But, there's something wrong. For the life of him his mind can't think of the answers to the questions Jack is asking him. It's too much. He hopes Jack's not mad at him for not answering at him. He just can't. It's taking all his energy to just hang on. Mac can't help but smile. When he hears Matty's no-nonsense tone. No doubt telling Jack to chill out. He thinks he says his partner's name, but it sounds like a slurred mess to his fogged ears. He can hear a rustling of voices over the phone. His team.

"Guys," Mac says as he closes his eyes.

"Mac?! We're coming!"

His team is coming. He can rest now.

 **XXXXX**

The phone is ringing again. Jack is sick of hearing endless ringing. He needs to speak to Mac. He needs to know he's okay. "Come on, kiddo. Answer the damn phone." Once again it goes to voicemail. He ends the call and quickly redials. He's about to yell out in frustration when the ringing stops. "Mac! Mac!" No one answer, but he hears a gurgling sound. Shit.

"Put it on speaker!" Bozer hisses as he jabs the older man in the back.

"Hold the hell on," Jack says as he places the phone on speaker. An echo of Mac's and other encouragements to hang on are echoed are spoken into the phone.

Mac doesn't say anything. Or at least nothing lucid. Just gasping and gurgling can be heard over the phone.

"Mac! What happened?!" Matty asks.

"Who did this?" Jack adds.

But Mac doesn't answer. All they team can hear is his erratic, gasping breaths.

 **"** **Jesus, Cage!** Can you dive any faster?!" Jack yells.

"Cage wrapping the car around a tree is not going to help Mac. Calm down, Jack. You acting like this is not going to help Mac." Matty's voice commands.

Jack reluctantly agrees. Matty's right. He needs to calm down. Mac is going to need him. He's going to need all of them.

As if to reiterate their boss' sentiment, Mac lets out another painful gasp.

"Mac?! We're coming." Jack yells to his partner. "Just hang on, we're coming."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I still don't own MacGyver.**

 **A/N: I just wanted to send a big thank you to all of you who have reviewed, favorited, and are following this story. You guys sure do know how to make a girl feel welcome! Anyways onto chapter two!**

 **A Not So Merry Christmas-Chapter 2**

A stampede of heavy feet rushes up the stairs and down the hallway to Cage's apartment. The sound of police radios and urgent commands greets Jack, Bozer, Matty, and Cage as they enter the chaotic scene in front of them. Officers are talking about canvasses and forensics. Two paramedics are shouting out orders and information to each other.

While, Matty and Cage go to speak with the offices to find out what information they know, Jack and Bozer rush to their friend's side, where a female and male paramedic are quickly and efficiently moving Mac from the floor to a gurney. The former Delta lets out a stream of curses when he finally sees Mac. He has seen corpses with more color. The kid's face is nearly translucent, the only color is a steady stream of bright red blood dripping from the kid's slack lips.

"Jesus, Mac!" Jack hisses.

"What's wrong with him?" Bozer asks brokenly.

'Brett', as is name tag says doesn't look up from his task of attaching a bag of clear fluid to Mac's IV. "Two gun shot wounds. One to the lung and one to the belly."

"Shit!" Jack says running a hand over is face. "Vitals?"

The female paramedic, Julie, throws her bag over her shoulder. "BP is bottoming out. Pulse is weak but fast. Shallow respirations."

"He's going to be okay, right? Bozer asks.

"We need to move," Brett cuts in.

Jack doesn't miss how neither paramedic answers Bozer's question. Their silence says it all.

"Where are you taking him?" Jack asks.

"Presbyterian," Julie answers as she kicks the wheels on the gurney to start to move it. "It's the closest Trauma One Center. There's enough room for one of you to come. Who's coming?"

Bozer and jack look at each other. Who is going to go with Mac? They both want to, but they can't.

Bozer takes a step towards Mac. Bozer is going to ride with Mac in the ambulance. Jack knows it's kinda shitty of him but he's a little annoyed that Bozer took it upon himself to go with Mac. It should be him. Mac is hurt. The person who did this is still out there. He needs someone there to protect him because he can't protect himself. And even though Bozer has known their friend longer, Jack should be riding with Mac. Bozer does not have the skills needed to protect Mac. And that's what Mac needs right now. He needs someone to look after him, like Jack should have been doing in the first place. He may have failed before in protecting Mac, but he's not going to make that same mistake again. If only, Bozer will let him.

Bozer bends down over the blonde and places his hand on his friend's forehead. He whispers something in Mac's ear, but Jack can't make it out.

"Sorry, but we really need to get going." Brett interrupts.

Bozer reluctantly and slowly stands up right. "Okay." He turns and looks at Jack. "You go."

His moment of aggravation with Bozer instantly flees, "You sure?

Bozer shakes his head. "Yeah, Mac needs you right now. I'll go back to Phoenix and work with Riley to find out who did this. That's where I'll do the most good."

Jack nods his head and slaps Bozer on the back before he rushes to follow Mac's gurney out the door. He's at the threshold of the door when he hears Bozer call him.

"Yeah, man?"

Bozer doesn't say anything. But the combination of fear and resolve tell Jack what the newest member of their team isn't saying.

"I got him, Bozer. I got him."

Bozer nods his head and Jack quickly turns and rushes to meet the EMT's and Mac at the waiting ambulance.

 **XXXXX**

Jack feels like he's been sitting here for hours. And for hours before that he was pacing the small hospital waiting room much to the chagrin of the other people waiting in the small space, as well as the hospital staff. Jack checks his watch again for the hundredth time since he was first ushered to this purgatory and Mac was rushed into surgery. Words like hypovolemic shock, pneumothorax, and perforated colon are still rolling around in his head after they were first thrown at him by Dr. Russo more than six hours ago.

And except for Dr. Russo telling him in a rush that Mac was being redlined to the OR with a collapsed lung and a belly wound, Jack has heard nothing else.

To make matters worse he has not heard anything from Bozer, Riley, and Cage. Matty was the only one who has contacted him, and it was only to see how Mac was doing.

Whoever said, 'no news is good news' is full of shit. Because not hearing anything about your friend's condition after seeing their near lifeless body does not bring you any peace of mind. If anything, no news causes nightmarish thoughts. Thoughts like Mac's lifeless body on a cold, metal table with a team of medical personnel working up the nerve to tell a former Delta and a scary Matty Weber that their resident genius is dead.

"Anything?"

Jack looks up to see Matty and Bozer standing in front of him.

"Nada."

"That's good right?" Bozer asks hopefully.

Man, Jack wishes he can have some of Bozer's optimism right now. But Bozer didn't see Mac. He didn't see Mac being rushed to the OR with a tube down his throat because he can't do the simple talks of breathing on his own. Bozer did not see the doctor's scrubs soaked with Mac's blood.

"I talked to Medical at Phoenix. They're ready to go as soon as the doctors give the okay. I don't like him being in an unsecured Hospital," Matty says.

Matty doesn't need to elaborate. He's been thinking the same thing. If someone can get to Mac on the outside what or who is stopping Mac's assailant from finishing the job within a hospital where there are countless pharmaceuticals available to finish the job.

Speaking of assailant. "Any idea what the hell happened here?" Jack asks. "Any leads?"

Mac is in surgery and physically there's nothing he can do to help him. But, he can find whoever did this to Mac and make them pay.

"Cage is still working the scene. So far, she hasn't found anything," Matty says.

"How about Riley?"

Matty shakes her head. "So far, nothing. Whoever did this is a ghost. A professional."

"How about your contacts? Any chatter?" Jack asks. "I mean, Mac and I took down a fair number of bad asses. We pissed off a lot of people."

"I reached out to all my contacts. Nothing."

Jack lets out a loud sigh and motions with his hand down the hall towards where Mac was rushed to hours ago. "Great! Great! Just fucking great! Mac is lying in the hospital with a hole in his lung and belly and we got shit!"

Matty looks around at the confused faces of the half dozen people sitting in the waiting room. "You need to check yourself! We need you to keep your head in the game to find whoever did this. We and Blondie can't afford to have you go AWOL off the reservation guns blazing!"

"Um…guys." Bozer attempts to butt in.

"Look, Matty."

"Don't 'Look Matty' me."

"Guys," Bozer tries again this time louder.

"It's my damn job to look after the kid!"

"And what Blondie needs now…"

"GUYS!" Bozer yells.

Matty and Jack glare at Bozer.

"What?!

"What, Bozer!"

Bozer motions to the sheepish looking doctor who is looking at them.

"You here for Angus MacGyver?" Dr. Russo asks.

"Yeah, Doc." Jack answers.

"How is he doing?" Bozer asks.

"Well, as I told Jack before, your friend came in with two gun shot wounds. One to the right lung and one to the colon. The one to the lung hit a rib and splintered. It caused his lung to collapse and we had no choice but to remove his spleen. Another bullet splinter lacerated his kidney, but we were able to repair the renal laceration."

"Now the bullet wound to the colon is a little trickier. It hit a major artery and he was already in hypovolemic shock when he was brought into the ER. We were able to repair the artery and damage to the colon. However, we did have to perform a colostomy."

Dr. Russo sees the visibly shaken looks on the trio's faces. He puts his hands up. "I performed a temporary colostomy. Mr. MacGyver's colon needs time to heal and a temporary colostomy lets that happen. If all goes right the procedure will be reversed within the next couple of weeks."

A collective sigh of relief can be heard.

"So, he's going to be okay?" Jack asks. Cautiously.

"In time. It's not going to be a quick recovery. But, I'm reasonably optimistic that your friend will make a full recovery, if there are no complications within the next 48 hours," Dr. Russo explains with a small smile. "He's currently in recovery but will be moved shortly to ICU."

"Good, that's really good," Bozer says with a small chuckle.

"It is," Jack says with a smile.

For the first time in hours Jack feels like he can breathe again. In his relief he is half listening to Matty talking to Dr. Russo about making the necessary arrangements to move Mac to Phoenix.

"I'm going to call Riley and tell her," Bozer says as he excuses himself.

Jack nods his head. He's about to call Cage when a young nurse clears her throat.

"Excuse, Mr. Dalton?" A nurse named Emma asks.

Jack looks up from his phone. "That's me. Is Mac ready to see visitors?"

She gives him a small, sad smile. "I'm sorry, but not yet. But, you do have a phone call at the nurses' station."

"Me?" Jack asks.

" Are you Jack Dalton?" Emma asks with a smirk.

Jack laughs as she points towards the nurses' station. "You better get it."

Jack reaches the nurses' station in a few quick strides and picks up the waiting Phone. "Jack Dalton."

"Hello, Jack! How is our boy doing?" an all too familiar, infuriating voice replies.

Jack looks around the nurses' station in alarm. "Murdoc."

 **I'm a real sucker for Mac Whump and Protective Jack and Bozer, so don't worry there will be plenty more to come.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own MacGyver.**

 **A/N: I don't know about you guys, but I'm definitely going through MacGyver withdrawals. Here's a new chapter to help tide us over until our show returns in a few weeks. Enjoy!**

 **A Not So Merry Christmas-Chapter 3**

"Murdoc," Jack bites out as he looks around the nurses' station trying to see if Murdoc showed up to see Mac in this precarious condition with his own eyes.

Murdoc lets out a sinister laugh. "So how is our boy doing? He wasn't looking too good the last time I saw him."

"It was you," Jack says. From the moment it became clear that Mac was hurt, Jack thought it may have been Murdoc who did this. Who hurt Mac. But, another part of him didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to admit that he failed protecting Mac again from the psychopath. As awful as it sounds he would have rather it been a random burglary gone wrong. And not that Murdoc got his hands on Mac once again on Jack's watch.

An all too familiar sounding gasping breath can be heard over the phone line. It's eerily similar to when Mac was gasping for air not too long ago. "You sick bastard."

Murdoc laughs again. "I hit his lung, huh?"

"When I get—"

"And that stomach wound?" Murdoc continues. "Young MacGyver won't be eating any of Mr. Bozer's culinary masterpieces any time soon."

"You're a big man hiding behind the phone. Why don't you come out and say this crap to my face, bug shot?"

"This must be killing you. I know you take your job as MacGyver's watch dog very personally. But, boy were you slacking on the job this time!" Murdoc lets out a loud whistle.

Jack slams his hand down on the nurses' desk. Several nurses stop their respective tasks to glare at him. "Sorry," Jack apologizes.

"I mean young Angus was bleeding out on Ms. Cage's floor when you all were nowhere around. If I didn't call 911 when I did, who knows. MacGyver may have very well bled out on Ms. Cage's cold, hard floor."

"I'm going to rip your head off!" Jack threatens as he ignores the scared faces looking at him.

"Dying alone. That's probably MacGyver's worst nightmare. I mean we both know the kid has abandonment issues. First, his mom dying and then his father taking off. Him dying alone would only be fitting," Murdoc says matter of factly.

The words dig into Jack deeper than any other physical wound. The last thing he wants to think about is Mac bleeding out all alone.

"You better enjoy your last moments of freedom, Murdoc. Because we're coming for you and I promise you no one is going to stop me from beating the shit out of you,"

"Too bad that will never happen. I would love to see you again, but my job here is done. As fun as this was. I better get going. I've been on this line far too long. For MacGyver's sake I hope Dr. Russo is an adequate doctor."

Jack goes cold. Not only does Murdoc know what hospital Mac is in but also the name of his doctor. Slamming the phone down, Jack rushes to the ICU. To Mac. In his rush to get to Mac, he nearly runs over Matty.

"Jack! What the hell are you doing? This is a hospital! Not a track!"

"Murdoc!" Jack rushes out, frantically looking around to see where Mac is.

"Here?!" Matty asks.

Jack shakes his head." No on the phone. He called the nurses' station and asked for me."

"What did he say?" Matty questions.

"It was him. He did this!" Jack says motioning with his hands. "He shot Mac."

"Jesus," Matty says. "Did he say anything else?"

"Bragging about his dirty work," Jack replies. He doesn't tell her how Murdoc also tortured him with the truth. That Mac got hurt on his watch and if Murdoc didn't call for help himself, that Mac could very well be in the morgue right now and not in the ICU. Matty is smart. She knows Jack has failed. She doesn't need to be reminded. Not right now when Mac is still in danger.

"Well, I can't say that I'm surprised that it was him. Now that Murdoc confirmed it was him, we don't have to chase down endless dead ends. We now know who we are looking for and we can focus all of our resources on getting Murdoc," Matty explains.

Jack nods his head, running a tired hand over his chin. "When did he doctor say we can move Mac?"

"Probably nor for another 24 hours at the earliest."

Jack shakes his head. "That won't work. We need to get him out of this hospital now."

"Um, Jack. The kid is on a ventilator and has a hole in is belly. Moving him is not going to be exactly easy."

"Murdoc knows it was Dr. Russo who operated on Mac. I don't know if he has eyes here or he has Dr. Russo in his pocket. But, I don't like keeping Mac here one second later than we have to."

For Matty nods her head. "Okay. I'm going to have Riley run a background check every one who works in this hospital. From chief of staff to the candy stripers. In the meantime, no one goes near him until they're vetted by Riley. You stick to Mac like glue."

"Like you have to ask," Jack replies.

 **XXXXX**

Jack is fidgeting with his hands. If Mac was in this position he would be making one of his famous paperclip creations. But Mac isn't. Mac's been shot and is now getting settled in the ICU. It's been about an hour since Murdoc's phone call and much to his chagrin, Jack has still not seen Mac. He's going stir crazy. He needs to see that Mac is okay with his own eyes.

And with both Matty and Bozer having gone back to Phoenix with promises to be back within a few hours, Jack has been left to his own devices. Letting his worst fears and Murdoc's play havoc with him.

"Jack?" A kind voice calls him. Jack looks up to see a smiling nurse standing in front of him. "My name is Becky. I'm one of the ICU nurses who have been working with your friend. You ready to see Mr. MacGyver?"

Jack jumps up. "Oh yeah. Lead the way."

Jack follows Becky for the short walk towards a set of clear-walled cubicles. He stops when they near Mac's taking in the sight of the still form of his partner. "Oh, Mac."

"He's hanging in there," Becky says. "He's holding his own. Don't let all the wires and tubes scare you. They're there to help him."

Jack nods his head, but his eyes can't help but go to the ventilator that's sticking out of Mac's mouth.

Becky can see what Jack is focusing on. "Ventilators kind of go hand in hand when there's a pneumothorax. So, don't let that scare you. We just want to give his lungs a break for a bit."

Jack nods, but stays where he is for another minute. Mac may be oblivious to everything that's going on. But, Jack isn't. He knows damn why Mac is here. Jack didn't do his job.

"Come on," Becky presses. "Your friend is waiting for you."

Jack takes a deep breath. He can do this. Mac was alone before. But, Jack won't let him be alone again. He won't let Mac wake up all alone.

He cautiously steps into Mac's ICU cubicle and takes the seat that Becky has pushed next to Mac's bedside. "Here you go. I'll leave you guys alone. Let me know if you need anything," Becky says as she turns to leave the area.

Looking at Mac this close, Jack can't help but be shocked by the kid's appearance. He knew it was bad. He saw Mac bleeding out in Cage's apartment and watched as the paramedics shoved a tube down Mac's throat. But, that's nothing compared to how Mac looks now. Mac's usually tan face is almost as pale as the sheets he's lying on. There are deep, blue bruises under Mac's close eyes. And he's still. Too still. His hands are constantly in motion are lying limply at his side.

Jack picks up the hand that's closest to him and almost drops it when he feels how cold it is. Regaining his grip, he squeezes the slack fingers. "I know I wasn't there before when you needed me," Jack says, his voice cracking. He gives Mac's fingers another squeeze. "But, I'm here now, Mac."


End file.
